How to write silence

Image (SCREEN CAPTURE OF MUSIC TAKEN INTO A SPECTROGRAPHIC SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT. THE TIMELINE DISPLAYS LOUDNESS, FREQUENCY, AND PERIODS, AS VALUES OF BLUE (GENERATED BY THE AUTHOR IN SPECTROGRAM16, FREEWARE APPLICATION FROM VISUALIZATION, LLC SOFTWARE).)Spectrographic.pngDownload (1MB)
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Abstract

This paper will trace the development of a notation research experiment aimed at developing a scoring system for silence. Silence has kinetic roles in social exchanges: quietude, reflective pauses, withdrawal, displays of consent or dissent, reception and interpretation. But how can we score something not present, yet also not absent? Is there a positive notation for this critical issue of performance, of silence in the voice, other than merely the courtesies of extended rests, or blanks in the score? The reader will see inscriptions that oscillate between pictures and writing, and between visual and auditory, exemplifying those capacities of drawing to operate in the spaces between languages. In the context of an experimental music notation, seeking to make an instrumental gesture of silence, how can we draw incipience?